The New England Revolution ended the first half of their season on something of a sour note — a 1-0 defeat at Charlotte FC despite their opponents playing more than 30 minutes of the match a man down.
The Revolution (8-5-1, 25 points) will hope they can rekindle their enviable form on home turf when they host Toronto FC on Wednesday night in Foxborough, Mass. New England owns a 7-1-0 record at home.
“I think guys are very ready to go,” head coach Marko Mitrovic said at a pre-match press conference. “I think this (World Cup) break was great on one side for them to recover, but also in the past five weeks, I think we used the break in a very good way to keep going, to keep improving, to keep getting better and to prepare for what’s coming.”
The Revs will presumably be backstopped by goalkeeper Matt Turner — their sole representative at the World Cup — whose loan from French club Olympique Lyonnais they extended through the end of the year earlier this month. The U.S. international has helped them in allowing the third-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference this season (18).
During the break, the team also bolstered their depth with the signings of forward Wilson Harris and defender Cody Baker, the latter on loan from Seattle through the end of the year, as well as a multi-year extension for homegrown defender Peyton Miller.
Aside from the usual suspect in Carles Gil, the Revolution will look to Luca Langoni for offense, with the Argentine forward having scored in their last two wins.
They will surely enter with confidence against a Toronto side (3-6-6, 15 points) that is winless in its last 10 games across all competitions. They haven’t won a match since April 4 against Colorado.
Toronto is coming off a rather lifeless 0-0 draw Thursday in their return to play at Canadian rival CF Montreal. They failed to register a single shot on target.
Head coach Robin Fraser expressed hope they would find their offensive shape and set his attention on the New England captain.
“I think Carles Gil is one of the best players in the league,” he said. “… When you have a player like him to build around, certainly it’s a good foundation to start from. I just feel like they’re playing well, they’re playing cohesively, they’re very organized and I think you’re seeing the result of that.”
Toronto will be rejoined by their own captain in Jonathan Osorio, who was suspended from the Montreal match on yellow card accumulation.
On the front end, the visitors will hope for a rebound performance from record signing Josh Sargent. Fellow designated player Djordje Mihailovic may slot into the starting lineup after making his first appearance since March on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
